Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland (13 November 1952-) was an American federal judge who, in 2016, was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill Antonin Scalia's vacant seat on the US Supreme Court. However, the Republican congressional majority refused to seat him due to his nomination coinciding with a presidential election year.

Biography
Merrick Garland was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1952 to a Conservative Jewish family, and he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and magna cum laude from its law school. After serving as a law clerk to justices Henry J. Friendly and William J. Brennan, Jr., he practiced corporate litigation at Arnold & Porter, and he took part in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing. On 16 March 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Antonin Scalia, but the Senate Republicans had an unprecedented refusal to consider his nomination due to his nomination occurring at the same time as a presidential election year. His nomination expired on 3 January 2017.